"Ronaldo's return", other than when he actually did return to Manchester for last year's Champions League tie, has been a recurring topic for over two years, despite the Portuguese signing a long-term contract at Real last year. Ronaldo, for all his supposed selfishness and vanity, is a team player and is dismayed that a year after Mesut Özil left the Bernabéu, Ángel di María and Xabi Alonso have also departed.